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First Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartegena Protocol (ICCP1)

Montpellier, FRANCE
11-15 Dec 2000

Première Réunion du Comité Intergouvernemental pour le Protocole de Cartegena

 

| Monday 11 | Tuesday 12 | Wednesday 13 | Thursday 14 | Friday 15 |
| Lundi 11 | Mardi 12 | Mercredi 13 | Jeudi 14 | Vendredi 15 |


Tuesday 12 December 2000

Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, Ethiopie, (Lauréat
du Prix Nobel alternatif) face à ses pairs pour son action dans
la mobilisation des pays en développement dans le
contrôle des OVM et la conservation de la
biodiversité. Tewolde fut reçu par le Conseil Général,
Département de l' Hérault, France.

Les délégués se réunirent dans deux groupes de travail tout au long de la journée. Le Groupe de Travail I (GT-I) discuta des propositions sur la phase pilote de la Chambre de Compensation de la Biosécurité (CCB) et entama alors le traitement de la manipulation, du transport , de l'emballage et de l'identification. Un groupe de contact se réunit dans l'après-midi pour poursuivre les discussions sur la CCB. Le Groupe de Travail II (GT-II) finalisa les discussions initiales sur le renforcement des capacités, les procédures de prise de décision et le respect des règles.

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Réception en l'honneur de Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher

Des représentants des délégations du Protocole de Carthagène, du Secrétariat de la CBD, des
ONG et de la société civile rassemblés pour Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egsiabher, lauréat du Prix Nobel, alternatif au Conseil Général du Département de l'Hérault, à Montpellier. Des allocutions d'ouverture furent données, suivies par des commentaires anecdotaux de félicitations de la part de l'assistance.

Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher pose pour une photo
avec Christianne Aveline, Délégation Française, et le
Président du CIPC, l'Ambassadeur Philémon Yang (photo de gauche).

Ci-dessus et ci-dessous à gauche, Tewolde partage son inspiration et encourage la poursuite de la
collaboration au sein du Protocole de Carthagène/les collègues de la CBD.

 


Séance d'Information sur l'Etiquetage:

(de gauche à droite) David Hathaway, Brésil; le médiateur Katell Le Gulven, Solagral, France; François Pythoud, Suisse; et Isabelle Hippolyte, CIRAD, France.

Solagral, a French NGO focused on international regulations on agriculture, environment and development, hosted a morning side-event about practical, political and scientific issues surrounding labeling. Panelists included consultant David Hathaway, Brazil; microbiologist Isabelle Hippolyte CIRAD, Solagral, France; and François Pythoud, Swiss Delegation; alongside co-chairs Pierre Castella and Katell Le Goulven, Solagral.

David Hathaway noted the who, what, when, where, and how's of labeling GMO/LMOs.  Salient issues include the need for public knowledge of the presence or involvement of GMO/LMOs in food production on the basis of making informed political/religio-spiritual/health decisions about consumption; policy options for governments in labeling positively (e.g. "this food contains GMO/LMO products"), negatively (e.g. "this food is GMO/LMO free"), or ambiguously (e.g. "this food may contain GMO/LMO products"); and that market forces and public consciousness can expedite policy development in some cases.

Isabelle Hippolyte presented scientific parameters of testing for GMO presence or involvement in food production: an antibody-antigene process test producing a chomotographic protein separation which can easily be compared with control group results from known organisms; and gene testing through amplification of gene reproduction, which can rely on comparative quantification of genetic sequencing of unknown and genetically-related known organisms.  Hippolyte noted that science can detect, quantify and analyze the presence of GMOs in any product and European policies exist which have quantified thresholds, but science is limited by lack of research and reference materials in this field,  and difficulty in identifying or quantifying highly diluted GMO levels, or GMOs in heavily produced products.

François Pythoud, underscored the considerable progress made in the past two years bringing identification and labeling to the forefont, however work remains to be done on how to define GMOs.  Though there are many details to be ironed out, Pythoud assured that the existence of the Protocol was indicative of countries' will and desire to continue discussing these issues.


Les systèmes d'information de l'UNIDO et de l'OCDE:

Peter Kearns, Direction de l'Environnement -Biotechnologie, OCDE, présenta le BIO-BIN, projet conjoint UNIDO/OCDE, et source commune d'harmonisation dans la Biotechnologie..

Peter Kearns, Environment Directorate - Biotechnology, OECD, presented the BIO-BIN, a joint UNIDO/OECD project and common resource for harmonization in biotechnology.

BIO-BIN is a project of cooperation between OECD's BioTrack for OECD Member countries, and UNIDO's BINAS (Biosafety Information Network and Advisory Service) which focuses on UN Member States and non-OECD Member countries; both of which are repositories for information on authorities, commercial releases and field trials of GMOs and documentation related to safety in biotechnology.

La source d'information se trouve à http://www.oecd.org/ehs/biobin/.

 


Sam Johnston, SCBD.

Plan Stratégique de la SCBD pour 2002/2010:

Sam Johnston souligna la nécessité pour la SCBD de développer un Plan Stratégique pour la prochaine décade, insistant sur le processus de datage pour formuler, ébaucher, discuter, réviser et préparer un Plan initial, d'ici l'année prochaine.

Les questions soulevées comprenaient la longueur, la différenciation entre le Plan et les PALT, la focalisation principale sur le Plan, l'objectif d'ensemble du Plan et sa relation avec les programmes de travail existants, et le lien qu'il aura avec le Protocole.


Etiquetage des OVM dans l'Architecture des Normes Internationales:

Le Panel (de gauche à droite) Stéphane Guéneau, Solagral; Marijane Lisboa, Greenpeace International; Patrice Dauchet, Ministre Français des Finances et de l'Industrie; les comédiateurs Yannick Jadot et Katell Le Goulven, Solagral; Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, chef de délégation, Ethiopie; Doraa Abdel Motaal, Division du Commerce et de l'Environnement, OMC; et João Magalhães, Division de l'Agriculture, OMC.

Tewolde Gebre Egzhiaber, Ethiopia, noted that the Protocol provides a basis for effective labeling of LMOs, including commodities, but it is not sufficient on its own. He noted the need for active government involvement to develop labeling standards at the national for contained use and transit as well as in the future under the Protocol for LMO commodities. He also noted that developing countries support labeling of all LMOs, because they have less capacity to deal with emergencies and their environment's are more conducive to the survival of foreign organisms.

Doraa Abdel Motaal, Division du Commerce et de l'Environnement, OMC; et João Magalhães, Division de l'Agriculture, OMC.

Patrice Dauchet, French Ministry of Finance and Industry, reviewed the history of labeling in the EU and ongoing activities under the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Marijane Lisboa, Greenpeace International, highlighted activities at the WTO Ministerial in Seattle related to biotechnology and growing public concern over labeling and environmental and food safety. João Magalhães and Doaa Abdel Motaal, World Trade Organization (WTO), discussed WTO disputes (Thailand vs. Egypt on tuna fish in GM soya oil) and the WTO's Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) regarding questions of labeling and biotechnology. They also focused on issues of non-discrimination, like products and production and process methods. Stéphane Guéneau, SOLAGRAL, noted the importance of traceability and harmonizing standards, as well as the lack of a conflict resolution mechanism under the Protocol.

Stéphane Guéneau, Solagral; Marijane Lisboa, Greenpeace International; et Patrice Dauchet, Ministre Français des Finances et de l'Industrie.
During the discussion, participants mentioned inconsistencies in consideration by some Parties of LMOs as being unique for purposes of patenting but equivalent in terms of production and process methods. Other concerns raised included dumping of LMOs or questionable food items on countries without adequate risk assessment capacity and whether Protocol obligations for identification extend to consumer packaging for LMO-FFPs or are just intended for shipment containers for regulatory and import authorities.

Informations Pertinentes:

Couverture précédente de l'IIDD: